US authorities said a Bulgarian fugitive convicted in the suffocation deaths of 18 Sri Lankan stowaways who died in the back of a truck he was driving nearly two decades ago has been arrested near Seattle and faces possible extradition to his home country.

Plamen Vladimirov was found guilty in Bulgaria of negligent homicide and human trafficking in 2002 in connection with the 1995 incident.

According to the complaint, based on information provided by the Bulgarian government, Trifonov drove a cargo truck purportedly carrying plastic goods but in reality loaded with 40 Sri Lankan nationals from Romania to Hungary in July 1995.